Blimey, another one? Hot off the back of Nintendo’s Festive Offers eShop sale, a brand-new bunch of bargains are available in the European 2024 New Year sale.
Kicking off at the start of the new year, this eShop sale is bringing discounts of “up to 75%” until 14th January 2024 — so you’ve got a couple of weeks to check it out if your wallet hasn’t quite recovered from the last sale.
As is always the case, there are a lot of games receiving a tasty discount and with so many titles to wade through, it can be difficult to pick out the diamonds from the doo-doo. But worry not, we’re here to help! Below, we have listed every game in Nintendo’s 2024 New Year eShop sale that we awarded a 9/10 or higher, so you can find the very best of ’em at a glance.
We have presented the following discounts in GBP, but you can find EUR savings by checking out your respective eShop.
If you are keen to stock up on some eShop credit to use in this New Year sale, then we can help with that one too. Check out our store or follow the links below for all available eShop credit options.
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Stocked up and ready to go? Let’s check out the cream of the New Year sale’s crop…
Publisher: Disney Games / Developer: Dlala Studios
£24.49 (-30%)
While you could certainly argue that Disney Illusion Island is perhaps more of a Metroidvania than it is a straight-up 2D platformer, we reckon it strikes a wonderful balance between the two genres that it could honestly fall into either category. Its focus on combat-free exploration makes this an excellent gateway into the genre for younger audiences, and its ability to support up to four players via local co-op means that it’s an excellent option for families who want to spend a bit of time with some of the most iconic Disney characters imaginable. You can also hug each other to regain health. What more could you ask for?
Publisher: SEGA / Developer: P-Studio
£38.49 (-30%)
Persona 5 Tactica is a thrillingly varied tactical RPG that fans of the Phantom Thieves and the genre should take note of. It’s a little on the easy side, but the varied gameplay, excellent soundtrack, striking visuals, and lovable characters all make for a very easy recommendation here. We’d especially suggest you pick this up if you really enjoyed the original Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, as we noticed a lot of parallels that can be drawn between the two. It remains to be seen if this is the last time we’ll be seeing the Phantom Thieves don their masks, but if this does turn out to be their finale, Persona 5 Tactica is a massively enjoyable sendoff for the beloved crew.
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive / Developer: Mountains
£1.79 (-64%)
Florence is an evocation of the beauty, sadness, and hope that comes from any human connection we make in our lives, whether with art, nature, or another person. It’s a succinct and incredibly successful exploration of moments you’ll recognise from your own life, and the way it mirrors thoughts and feelings through small gameplay mechanics makes it one of the most affecting experiences we’ve enjoyed on Switch, or any other platform.
Publisher: The Arcade Crew / Developer: JoyMasher
£9.79 (-30%)
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is an absolute triumph in ‘neo-retro’ game design. It boasts fluid combat with plenty of variety in environmental and enemy design and an art style that looks like it beamed straight over from the early ’90s. While its overall short length might be a bit of a sticking point for some, those looking for an action title that is not only a fantastic experience but also feels like an authentically retro one will find this to be an absolute no-brainer.
Publisher: Devolver Digital / Developer: Terrible Toybox
£13.49 (-40%)
Return to Monkey Island reaches into your heart, rips out your desire to know THE SECRET, and clenches it in front of your face. As hard as it would be to concede that The Secret of Monkey Island™ might always have been a MacGuffin, it’s agonising to contemplate that your 30-year longing for the Monkey Island 3 might be just the same. Delighting as you tremor, Return presents to your transfixed gaze a phenomenal point-and-click adventure, bubbling with passion and fun. All the way through, you will hope, achingly, that the big reveal is coming – and then…
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
£33.29 (-33%)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe repackaged the original for the hybrid handheld for all of the millions of people who didn’t play on Wii U and added in that excellent (and sorely missed) Battle Mode for good measure. This is the pinnacle of the entire series; a fast, attractive, sublimely playable romp which has to rank as one of the best racing games of all time. It’s the definitive Mario Kart experience, content-rich and a delightful feast of comedic, cartoonish karting action. Essential.
And the addition of 48 more courses with the awkwardly named Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC? Well, that’s just more icing on an already-grand cake, isn’t it?
Publisher: Bethesda / Developer: id Software
£2.63 (-67%)
Quake returns in a feature-rich remaster that delicately updates the classic FPS, adding lots of optional bells and whistles, packing in a ton of content, and delivering the definitive way to play this 25-year-old masterpiece in the process. There’s a wealth of online and co-op options here, a glorious new expansion to blast through from MachineGames, super slick performance in both docked and handheld modes and it’s all available at a cracking price point. This really is a stellar port of one gaming’s true greats and an absolutely essential addition to your Switch library.
Publisher: Devolver Digital / Developer: Moppin
£1.80 (-33%)
This is an excellent port of a game that feels like it’s found a natural home on Switch thanks to a plethora of control options and the console’s natural facility with vertical orientation. Short of popping your 4K TV on its side, Switch offers the very best way to play Downwell. Its roguelike structure and twitch platforming might not be for everyone, but you should really give it a chance. For our money, it’s a modern classic that should be in everyone’s collection.
Publisher: Chucklefish / Developer: Robotality
£14.23 (-15%)
It isn’t often that war is a cozy affair, but Wargroove 2 manages to pull it off. We loved the game’s colourful, vibrant art and playful writing, and there is enough depth and variety in the main campaign to satisfy most tactics fans while the Conquest mode will offer an even greater challenge for those seeking it. It doesn’t change much from the previous game; it just tightens up some of the existing mechanics and adds a couple of extra wrinkles to an already great formula. It’s a brilliant sequel, and yet another worthy successor to Advance Wars.
Publisher: Devolver Digital / Developer: Dodge Roll
£3.29 (-70%)
Enter The Gungeon is a brilliantly tactile, endlessly replayable twin-stick roguelike that sits right up there with the very best indie games on Nintendo Switch. With satisfying combat, random levels, and an endless supply of inventive weapons, items and secrets, it’s always a total joy to play. Yet another modern indie classic found a natural home on Nintendo’s console.
Publisher: HYPETRAIN DIGITAL / Developer: So Romantic
£9.29 (-40%)
It may not last terribly long, but Jack Move manages to pack in all the important elements needed for an excellent cyberpunk JRPG adventure. The inventive battle system, enchanting world, and appealing graphics all come together to make for a perfectly paced, gripping, and memorable release that no RPG fan will want to miss out on, and that goes double for time-poor genre aficionados. It’s not often that you see a JRPG that leans so hard into science fiction tropes, and Jack Move makes the most of every minute of its runtime. Highly recommended.
Publisher: Whippoorwill / Developer: Adam Robinson-Yu
£3.77 (-40%)
A Short Hike is a fat-free experience from top to bottom – or should we say bottom to top? It’s the kind of game that makes us just sigh with happiness when we recall our time with it, and even having played it through to its ostensible conclusion multiple times, we know for a fact there are still things to see and do on that mountain. What we have here is something of an apotheosis – a milestone in indie games akin to Cave Story, or Spelunky. The very best bits of multiple game genres, stripped of all padding and bloat, mixed perfectly into a delicious video game stew that only gets richer and richer the more you play. An exploration in every sense of the word, A Short Hike is cute without being twee, challenging without being obnoxious, and emotional without being cloying. A landmark game for all ages. Don’t miss this one.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
£33.29 (-33%)
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury takes everything that made the cat-filled Wii U original special and throws in various small gameplay tweaks to make it even more enjoyable. The first four-player 3D Mario game fuses the freedom of the third dimension with the spirit of the tighter, more constrained (yet no less imaginative) courses from his 2D games to wonderful effect. The cooperative multiplayer element brought Princess Peach, Luigi, and Toad back into the fold of playable characters, mirroring the lineup of Super Mario Bros. 2. Cat Mario and Captain Toad were also introduced here, with the latter’s special levels leading to a standalone adventure in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
Publisher: Cellar Door Games / Developer: Cellar Door Games
£13.49 (-40%)
Rogue Legacy 2 is — to put it simply — a banger. While it’s not a game-changing revelation, it manages to follow up on everything that made the original great and makes it bigger and better. Even once you’ve bested the bosses, you’ve barely scratched the surface of what this has to offer, considering the in-depth New Game Plus mode and the wealth of content contained across all available classes and options. Whether you loved the original Rogue Legacy (which is also on sale) or never played it but like a good roguelike, this is a game you simply can’t afford to miss.
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.